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Defending cities against dirty bombs is difficult
DHS efforts to develop technologies for detecting dirty bombs run into criticism of the feasibility of the technology and questions about the cost-benefit analysis used to justify the deployment of the systems
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India's Tata Group, U.S. company to manufacture defense equipment
India is worried about China’s growing military might; Indian companies see an opportunity here, and more and more of them are looking to enter the defense market — with U.S. companies as partners; the U.S. government, too, is intensifying its defense cooperation with India
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DHS proposed FY2009 budget request: Highlights
DHS requests $50.5 billion in funding for FY 2009, an increase of 6.8 percent over FY2008; big ticket item: $1.3 billion request for department-wide efforts to counter IED threats
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CBP hails C-TPAT 2007 achievements
DHS’s Custom and Border Protection agency says that Customs-Trade Partnership Against Terrorism (C-TPAT) program made major contributions to U.S. security in 2007 by keeping a close eye on the supply chain bringing goods into the U.S.
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Under certain assumptions, ANWR drilling helps U.S. energy independence
Depending on the assumption we bring to the issue, additional 36 billion barrels of oil and 137 trillion cubic feet of natural gas would be added over current reserve estimates; this would result in limiting oil imports and increase America’s energy security; but — and this is an important “but” — many assumptions must hold for this to be the case
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TSA launches aviation security blog
TSA launches a blog — Evolution of Security — aimed at encouraging conversations and exchanges between the traveling public and the agency’s experts on matters pertaining to air travel security
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CCAT looking to fund new military technologies
CCAT is seeking funding applications for technologies which support the smart unmanned ground robotics initiative; technologies of interest to the Naval Expeditionary Combat Command (NECC); and force health protection
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Lawmakers charge FEMA ignored evidence about trailers' health risks
Lawmakers charge FEMA with manipulating scientific data about the potential danger posed by a toxic gas emitted in trailers still housing tens of thousands of survivors of hurricanes Katrina and Rita; more than 40,000 trailers are still being used by families displaced by Katrina in August 2005 and Rita weeks later
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New direction charted for wartime contracting
Government watchdog organizations say the cost of the war in Iraq has ballooned, in part, because of the dearth of trained acquisition professionals assigned to the theater and the failure of federal agencies to establish a uniform set of procurement policy guidelines
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Fingerprint scanning pulled from Valley schools
Arizona school district began to fingerprint students without notifying parents, or asking for the parents’ permission; the parents rebelled, the State Senate is discussing a bill to outlaw such fingerprinting, and the school district retreated: Fingerprinting will stop, and the fingerprint database will be deleted
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NSA, other spy agencies enlisted in effort to address cyber vulnerability
Prepare for another heated NSA-domestic spying debate: The Bush administration issues secret directive on 8 January — informally known as the “cyber initiative” — expanding the intelligence community’s role in monitoring Internet traffic; the goal is to protect against a rising number of attacks on federal agencies’ computer systems
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U.S. school bus system vulnerable to attack
Billions of dollars have been invested in shoring up security for ports, railways, motor coaches, and air travel — but practically nothing has been done to improve security of buses carrying millions of children every day to and from school; President Bush gave TSA a year to develop a national assessment of school bus security, but TSA has yet to develop such a plan
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GAO critical of DOE's handling of Russian nuclear scientists program
In 1994, the U.S. Department of Energy established the Initiatives for Proliferation Prevention (IPP) program to engage former Soviet weapons scientists in nonmilitary work in the short term and create private sector jobs for these scientists in the long term; GAO finds problems in how the program was managed, and questions accuracy of reported achievements
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OMB wants privacy review details in FISMA reports
U.S. government agencies will have to provide more details about the privacy reviews they conduct as part of annual reporting in compliance with FISMA
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FBI takes biometrics database proposal to U.K.
FBI, U.K. National Policing Improvement Agency in talks over the U.K. joining the FBI’s ambitious Server in the Sky database project; new database, in which the FBI plans to invest some $1 billion, will track down the world’s most wanted criminals and terrorists
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More headlines
The long view
Preventing Another 'Jan. 6' Starts by Changing How Elections Are Certified, Experts Say
The 2024 presidential election may be a rematch between President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump, but preventing a repeat of Jan. 6, 2021 — when false claims of a stolen election promoted by Donald Trump and his allies led to an insurrection at the U.S. Capitol —will be top of mind this election year. Research finds broad support among public for nonpartisan certification commissions.
States Rush to Combat AI Threat to Elections
This year’s presidential election will be the first since generative AI became widely available. That’s raising fears that millions of voters could be deceived by a barrage of political deepfakes. Congress has done little to address the issue, but states are moving aggressively to respond — though questions remain about how effective any new measures to combat AI-created disinformation will be.
Chinese Government Hackers Targeted Critics of China, U.S. Businesses and Politicians
An indictment was unsealed Monday charging seven nationals of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) with conspiracy to commit computer intrusions and conspiracy to commit wire fraud for their involvement in a PRC-based hacking group that spent approximately 14 years targeting U.S. and foreign critics, businesses, and political officials in furtherance of the PRC’s economic espionage and foreign intelligence objectives.
European Arms Imports Nearly Double, U.S. and French Exports Rise, and Russian Exports Fall Sharply
States in Europe almost doubled their imports of major arms (+94 per cent) between 2014–18 and 2019–23. The United States increased its arms exports by 17 per cent between 2014–18 and 2019–23, while Russia’s arms exports halved. Russia was for the first time the third largest arms exporter, falling just behind France.
LNG Exports Have Had No Impact on Domestic Energy Costs: Analysis
U.S. liquified natural gas (LNG) exports have not had any sustained and significant direct impact on U.S. natural gas prices and have, in fact, spurred production and productivity gains, which contribute to downward pressure on domestic prices.
Don’t Buy Moscow’s Shameless Campaign Tying Biden to Its Terrorist Attack
Russia has offered many different explanations to the ISIS-K’s 22 March 2024 terrorist attack at the Crocus City Hall in Moscow, but the most recent explanation offered by Russia is the most audacious yet: Russia now charges that the Ukrainian energy company Burisma financed the attack. Burisma is at the center of an effort by a congressional committee to impeach President Biden, but the case has all but collapsed. Hunter Stoll writes that Russia’s disinformation and propaganda apparatus appears to be searching for ways to keep Burisma in the news ahead of the U.S. presidential election.